Burdens
by StoneSabre
Summary: The aftermath of Weirdmageddon has devastated Ford's self-confidence, which presents a problem for Mabel when Waddles falls sick with a grave illness. Meanwhile, Dipper continues to help Stan piece his memory back together.


"You know who this is?"

"That's uhh… Officer Burps?"

"Blubs. Sheriff Blubs to be exact."

"Oh… ehh, close enough."

Dipper shrugged as Stan sipped a Pitt Cola next to him. He turned the pages of Mabel's scrapbook, showing Stan the various faces of people living in Gravity Falls. Stan's family had made tremendous progress restoring his memory in the days since the end of Weirdmageddon. At this point they were just cleaning up some of the finer, scattered details.

"What about him?" Wendy, who was sitting on the other side of Stan, pointed to a picture of a man in a suit, sporting perfectly combed brown hair and a fancy mustache.

"Oh that's easy… it's Prescott."

"Preston. Preston Northwest."

"Hmm, don't think I know him personally, but I see his face just about everywhere."

Dipper's tone became bitter. "Best leave it at that. He's not very pleasant company. He's got everyone thinking his family are the ones who founded the town, even though it's a lie. And every year, he gets everyone to line up in front of his fancy house, and only rich people are even allowed inside."

Stan slammed his cola on the table. "That's terrible. I mean what kind of person would build up their business by lying to people and exploiting their naive sense of wonder and mystery? What a jerk."

Mabel was sitting at the table with them moments ago, but left her brother and uncle's side to find Waddles. She returned to the kitchen with the pig in her arms, looking unusually distressed.

"Mabel sweetie, what did I tell you about bringing the pig in the kitchen?" Stan scolded.

"Grunkle Stan," Mabel responded, worry dragging down her normally cheerful voice, "I think something's wrong with Waddles. He's barely walked since he woke up this morning."

The pig in her arms was breathing very faintly, his eyes only half open.

"It's called laziness, sweetheart. I can relate. Maybe the pig just wants to sleep all day."

"The guy might just be tired, Mabel. The past few days have been crazy for all of us," Wendy tried to reason.

"No, it's something else. I think Waddles might be sick."

"Wouldn't surprise me. No telling what he's eaten." Stan scoffed.

"Grunkle Stan, I think we should take Waddles to the vet."

"Are you kidding me? Keeping a pet is expensive enough. One time I tried to get a bear's claw fixed and they couldn't even do it, but I still got charged an arm and a leg for 'using their time.' Not payin' nothin' for crappy service. I'm not made of money."

When a wave of sadness washed over Mabel's expression, Stan quickly offered an idea. "Besides, who needs a vet anyway. We can get your pig fixed up by my nerdy scientist brother, Stratford."

"Stanford," Dipper corrected.

"Right. I mean come on. Poindexter's got twelve PhD's and inventions for everything you can think up an app for. He's gotta have something that can help your pig feel better."

Dipper agreed. "Grunkle Stan's got a point, Mabel. I'm sure Great Uncle Ford will take a look at Waddles if you ask him."

"Where is he?" Mabel asked, unsure but realizing it was her only option.

"He said he had to work on something in his lab."

"Why don't go down there with her Dipper?" Stan suggested.

"But what about your memory?"

"Eh, I can take a break. Go talk with Sixer for a while. He might need your help fixin' her pig."

"Alright then. I'll try not to take too long." Dipper walked with Mabel towards the entrance to the basement. He made sure to leave the scrapbook for Stan.

"So what's this about a bear?" Wendy asked Stan once Dipper and Mabel left the room.

"Tried my hand at the circus business a long time ago."

"How'd that turn out?"

"Ever hear the story of how I got banned from the State of Wyoming?"

* * *

The elevator doors parted. Mabel walked ahead of Dipper into the basement, eager to find the person she was hoping could help Waddles. "Grunkle Ford!"

Dipper scanned the basement lab with some apprehension. He noticed the only source of light were lit candles and torches. "It's so dark in here."

"It's always dark down here, Dipper."

"No, like, unusually dark." Dipper pointed at the consoles sitting along the walls. "All of those machines are turned off."

"Maybe the lights got cut off because of the invasion."

"Not likely. The entire Shack was protected by the force field, and Great Uncle Ford told me he keeps a back-up generator down here." Dipper looked through the window into the chamber where the remains of the portal rusted away. Ford stood in the room, facing the fractured structure, seemingly in deep thought.

"Great Uncle Ford." Dipper called as he ran into the chamber, Mabel falling behind him with Waddles still in her arms.

Ford was only slightly startled by his broken solitude. "Dipper… Mabel? Is something wrong?"

"Great Uncle Ford, we need your help."

"…my help?"

Mabel ran up to him with pleading eyes. "It's Waddles. I think he might be sick. Can you can find out what's wrong with him?"

"Oh no…" Ford gasped in sympathy as he knelt down to Mabel's pet and quickly examined him, lightly placing a hand on his forehead. "You'd be right. He's showing a lot of signs of illness. Has he seen a vet?"

"Well, no actually. We were hoping maybe you could do something to help him."

Dipper and Mabel were hoping Ford would jump at the opportunity to help his niece and nephew, but when Ford hesitated at their request, they quickly realized they would not get the reaction they anticipated.

"Grunkle Ford?"

Ford stood back up, suddenly finding it hard to face the kids. "I'm not sure that's a good idea."

Dipper and Mabel looked at each other, confused and worried. "Wh- why not?" Dipper questioned.

Ford turned to the ruined portal. "You two probably noticed as you came in that I shut down the lab."

Dipper became apprehensive about where this conversation was going. "We did actually. What's that about, anyway?"

"I suppose there's no easy way to say this. Dipper, I'm shutting this lab down for good. All of my research, my life work… I'm putting it all behind me."

"What!?" Dipper exclaimed. "Wha… why?"

"It's time for me to be honest with myself. Weirdmageddon happened because of me. All of my hard work led up to that moment, and it did nothing but put my family, this town… this entire dimension in danger."

"But it turned out alright in the end. We defeated Bill."

"And we're all fortunate for that, but it never would have happened it it wasn't for Stanley. When my brother and I were held prisoner in Bill's fortress, I originally planned on surrendering to him, if I could only save the three of you. Sacrificing Stanley's memories to defeat Bill was his idea."

Ford started to the pace the room in contemplation, moving agonizingly slow, before coasting to a dead standstill. Dipper and Mabel's eyes carefully followed him. "Things always seem to happen that way. When I built that portal and fell into it, Stanley was the one who had to work thirty long years to get me out. When I allowed Bill to invade our world, and he captured me, it was you who came to rescue me, and Stanley nearly sacrificed everything to defeat him. I'm tired of making this family suffer for my mistakes. I've had a lifetime to use my talents to create something good for this world, and it's led to nothing but mistake after mistake. Your friend Waddles is best left in someone else's hands. I just don't trust my own anymore."

It deeply troubled Dipper that Ford would think of abandoning everything he admired him for. Seeing the man he looked up to so much drained of all his drive and determination was nothing short of devastating. "But, Great Uncle Ford, this is your life. Everything you've worked on. The mysteries of Gravity Falls. The discovery of the Multiverse. You can't just leave it all behind."

"This is hard for me to do Dipper, but I've already made my decision. Now, I don't mean to be rude, but I honestly don't wish to talk about this any longer. Go take your friend to see a vet. I have to return to the task of burying my research, so that no one will repeat the mistakes I've made in the future." Ford returned to his position before the ruined portal with his arms behind his back, where he'd been standing before Dipper and Mabel entered the room.

"But…"

"Dipper," Mabel grabbed her brother's shoulder, urging him to stop arguing. "It's okay, really. Come on, I'm sure Grunkle Stan will drive us to the vet if we really need him to."

Dipper gave up on the conversation, but the particular word he chose to leave Ford with was chosen very deliberately.

"Fine."

The emotion Dipper wanted to convey, what Ford could immediately feel crawling on him, chilling his skin, was clear disappointment. He didn't watch, but merely listened as his niece and nephew left the chamber. He was doing the right thing, he had to believe that. Dipper and Mabel would be disappointed in him, but he was only trying to protect them, and he hoped they would understand in time.

"Unbelievable."

He wasn't sure how long he had been standing there before a new voice emerged in the chamber. He recognized it, and it was neither Dipper nor Mabel's voice.

"Stanley? What are doing down here?"

"'You're tired of making this family suffer for your mistakes? You don't trust your own hands anymore?'" Stan repeated his words back to him mockingly. "Is that seriously your excuse?"

Ford sighed and pushed his hand against his brow. "I know it sounds crazy, Stanley, but I'm not making excuses. It's time for me to put all of this behind me. Start focusing on other things."

"For example?"

Ford held his arms out like the answer was the most obvious thing in the world. "Looking out for this family, of course."

"Bullshit!" Stan hissed. "If you were really looking out for this family, you'd at least try to help Mabel get her pig healthy again. But your research is too important for that, I guess."

"Stanley…"

"You know, for a second, I actually thought you were beginning to care about this family, but I was wrong. You still only care about yourself, after all these years."

Ford spoke up as Stan started to walk away, angrily. "Well, then why don't I just come with you?"

"No, you know what, don't!" Stan abruptly turned and pointed an accusing finger at him. "I wouldn't want to keep you from 'burying your research' or whatever the hell it is you think you need to do. You just go do that. Keep worrying about your science and ignoring your family." Stan turned away, muttering one last statement with the clear intention of reminding Ford of all the years he scorned his brother's compassion. "It's all you've ever done."

"Wait, Stanley… I don't know what to do."

The sharp contempt of Stan's words cut deep, robbing Ford of any further defense he might have had left. He was soon alone in the room again, standing deadly silent in the chamber, fidgeting with his hands and staring sadly at his deformities.

"...I don't know what to do..."

* * *

"Sooo, I'm not sure Melody's going to believe a terrifying triangle monster invading the entire town was actually the reason you haven't talked to her in three days. What exactly are you planning on telling her?"

Soos had just got done setting up his laptop on the checkout counter in the gift shop as Wendy sat back watching. Though tours were closed while Stan took a trip to the vet, even the town's recovery efforts didn't stop the occasional tourist from dropping in for a look at their gift shop. Soos was intent on contacting Melody for the first time in days while business was slow.

"I'm gonna tell her exactly what happened. You know she's probably worried about me, so the best thing I can do is tell her the truth."

"Yeah, that's sweet and all, but you have to admit it sounds pretty ridiculous." Wendy chuckled.

Soos was sending Melody an invite to a video chat when the vending machine slid open and Ford walked into the gift shop. He wanted to get out of the lab, but he had no particular destination in mind. Soos figured it was a good idea to call him over. "Hey Dr. Pines. Are you busy?"

Ford looked over and hesitated, as if he was embarrassed to answer. "Not exactly."

"Well come on. Say hi to Soos's girlfriend," Wendy encouraged.

"I don't think you've ever met Melody." Soos noted as Ford approached him behind the counter.

"I don't think I have."

"Why don't you stick around, she should be logging in any-" Melody's face appeared on the computer, and Soos put on a large smile. "Hey, Melody! How's it going, dude!"

"Soos it's so good to see you!" Melody smiled in return. The days Soos hadn't been able to see her only made her smile all the more beautiful. "Hey Wendy."

"What's up, Mels."

"Well who's your new friend?" Melody asked asked, looking at Ford.

"This is Dr. Pines, my boss's twin bro." Soos casually introduced him.

"Um, hello… Melody, was it?" Ford stuttered.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you." Melody greeted. She was quite warm and welcoming, despite his reluctance to speak. "You seem kind of shy. Don't worry, I don't bite. I promise."

This got a chuckle from Soos. "You know, it's funny. No one except Mr. Pines even knew this guy existed until like a few weeks ago. Now, he's already part of the family."

Ford turned to him, surprised. "…I am?"

"Of course you are, you big nerd." Wendy wrapped him in playful one-armed choke hold. "You live here, you're related to our boss, and you look after the kids. What else would we consider you?"

"So Melody, Let me tell you, you're never gonna believe what happened over the past few days."

"I heard Gravity Falls come up on the news two days ago. They said no one could make contact with anyone in the town, but no one could figure out why because they could get in."

Soos put his hands up excitedly. "Okay so, this big hole just kind of appeared in the sky, and a bunch of monsters just started invading the town, and a bunch of weird stuff just started happening everywhere."

"I can't believe you're actually telling her this." Wendy teased.

"Come on Wendy, let me tell the story. Okay, so their leader who was this powerful triangle dude was holding this guy up in his fortress, and we had to come rescue him because he was the only one who knew how to defeat triangle dude. So all the people in town who hadn't been captured yet gathered in the Mystery Shack, and we turned it into this giant fighting robot and stormed the fortress. Oh and you shoulda seen Wendy. She carried around an axe the whole time and she was just swinging on monsters left and right."

It didn't escape Ford that Soos chose not to relay to her the method they actually used to defeat Bill. He wasn't sure whether he did that for his own sake, or Ford's, but he appreciated it nonetheless.

"Wow, Seuss, you actually sat there and told her all of that." Wendy shook her head, bewildered.

"Honestly, I can believe it after that time we had to fight off all those animatronics at the mall." Melody recounted. "Gravity Falls is such a bizarre place, its hard to think of something that can't happen there."

"Oh man, you really should come see this guy." Soos pointed at Ford beside him. "He's like an expert on all things Gravity Falls. He has a whole journal about these things."

"Three journals, to be exact." Ford announced as he held up three fingers, then quickly pulled them back down. "But I lost them, unfortunately."

"Wait a minute…" Melody started looking rather suspicious, "…can you hold up your fingers again?"

"What, like this?" Ford held up the same three fingers.

"Can you hold up ALL your fingers?"

Ford realized what she must have noticed, and immediately became nervous. But he granted her request, however reluctantly. As soon as all of his fingers came uncurled, her eyes were wide and fixated.

"You have six of them!?" She gasped, showing excitement and intrigue, rather than repulsion like he was used to.

"Mmhmm." He showed her the fingers on his other hand, finding her fascination encouraging. "Six toes as well. It's a full package."

"That… is so cool."

Her response was a relief, and also warm and comforting in a way. How she praised him, with pure awe in her voice, somehow reminded him of his youth, when he and his brother looked at the world around them in innocent wonder. "Heh, yeah, it's pretty cool."

He caught himself staring at his fingers for a prolonged moment. There was a time when Stan was the only person who praised him for his deformities. The first person other than his brother who found his six fingers fascinating, rather than horrible and freakish, was Fiddleford. Like Stan however, he wasn't on the best terms with him anymore. Then there was Dipper and Mabel…

…His mind drifted off to thoughts about his niece and nephew, and he remembered the way they left the basement, clearly disappointed that their great uncle, who they looked up to and could depend on for his skills and intelligence, would suddenly and jarringly refuse to help them.

"Woah man, are you alright?" Melody asked.

Ford recoiled at the voice, realizing his had let his thoughts whisk him away from the present. "Yes, I'm fine."

"Did you hear what I said?"

"I'm sorry."

"Soos was telling me about your PhDs. I've never met someone with that many. The kids are lucky to know someone so smart."

"Hmm, yeah guess." Moment's after he uttered the halfhearted response, he got an idea. "Yes, it is." He cleared his throat. "It's been nice meeting you, Melody, but I have to go."

Ford started towards the front door of the Shack, but not before Wendy called out to him. "Hey, if you're looking for Stan and the kids, they took Mabel's pig to see a vet. They went to see someone named Dani."

Ford turned to her and nodded. "Alright. Thanks Wendy."

* * *

The drive to their destination brought Stan, Dipper, and Mabel straight into town. Driving slowly, Stan scanned the signs hanging out in front of each building they passed. "Kent's Daily Caper… Johnny's Motor Rental… Dani's Pet Care! This is it kids."

Stan parked his car in front of the brick building next to an alley. Mabel grabbed Waddles beside her in the back seat and followed Stan inside of the vet's office along with Dipper.

The pig snorted with only half of his usual liveliness in her arms. Her heart continued to drop. "We're going to get you better Waddles. Don't worry."

Upon entering, they saw a conversation unfolding between a dark brown haired woman in a doctor's garb and a lighter brown haired, scraggly bearded man in slightly more casual attire.

"…So the hospital calling keeps me, and they keep begging me to come over there and drag the guy and his beaver wife out of the lobby," The woman, who they assumed was the veterinarian, recounted to the man. "They told me they had to tell the guy they only treat people there like, fifty times. You can't make this stuff up."

"Sounds like something I'd come up with." The guy chuckled.

"Oh, we got visitors." The woman ended the conversation as she came from behind the counter to greet them. "Well it seems Mr. Mystery has graced our presence. How can we help today?"

"You guys treat pigs?" Stan asked.

"In a place like Gravity Falls, you have to be prepared to treat just about anything. 'Your visit is our experience' is our motto. Hi, I'm Dani." The woman held her hand out and shook Stan's. "This is my assistant, Al."

The man also offered his hand, and gave Stan a cheeky grin. "Hey, there Mr. Pines. You look good." Stan might've had a witty response, but he was distracted by the book sitting on his desk labeled _Joke Book vol. 2_.

"Is that for sale?"

"If you want it to be." The assistant deepened his voice in what Stan guessed was supposed to be a seductive tone. "Share a drink, on the house. We'll read it together."

"Sounds like a good night."

"Really?"

"No. Keep dreamin' buddy."

Dani gave a chuckle at Al's expense, but quickly refocused on business. "So what seems to be the problem today?"

"It's Waddles, my pet pig." Mabel spoke up, still caressing and rubbing the pig comfortingly. "He's sick and we were hoping you could help him."

"Of course. Since business has been so slow today, you don't even have to wait. We can bring him in the checkup room right away. We'll ask you guys a few questions, then we'll put him under an x-ray and run a few tests. That should give us an idea of what his exact condition is. Follow me please."

The three followed Dani and Al behind the counter and into a hallway. She talked to them on the way to the checkup room "You see, the good thing about pigs is their genome is remarkably similar to that of people, which makes our ability to treat them that much more advanced. That's why scientists often use pigs as test subjects to find cures to human ailments."

Stan snickered lightly, unable to keep himself from imagining Dani's factoid being told to him in Ford's voice. He started to think ofhis brother he left alone in the basement, and told himself for the fifth time since leaving the house that he didn't feel sorry for the last thing he said to him.

Al exited through a door on the left, where they assumed the x-ray was stationed, while Dani led them into a basic checkup room on the right, where there was a table underneath a light for the vet to closely observe pets.

She invited the three to have a seat. Dipper and Mabel sat in two seats near the opposite side of the room. Stan remained standing. "So how long has your friend been sick?"

"Since this morning," Mabel answered. "At least, that's when I first noticed."

"What has he eaten? Anything unusual over the past few days?"

"I don't… think so."

"But to be honest, there's no telling," Dipper added. "I wouldn't have put it past Bill to contaminate all of the food and water supply in Gravity Falls during the invasion."

Al peeked into the door. "X-ray's ready."

"Thank's Al. We can get your friend under the x-ray and run some diagnostics, so I'll have to take your friend off your hands for a while."

"Okay…" Mabel complied as she softly stroked Waddles' fur one more time before offering him to Dani's care.

"Alright buddy. Let's see what we can do for you." Dani scooped the pig up gently and started to carry him to the x-ray room. "I won't take long."

The three were left in the check up room alone. Mabel, still sitting next to Dipper, put her hand over her brother's. She did it for her own comfort, but she quickly noticed the downcast state her brother was in.

"Are you alright, brobro?"

"I'm still thinking about everything Great Uncle Ford said in the basement earlier. Didn't know he was taking this 'Weirdmageddon' thing so hard."

"Yeah, and now that he feels bad, I sorta do too. I mean, I was the one who gave the rift to Bill which allowed him to enter our world."

"And I was the reason you even ran off with the rift in the first place."

Stan was leaning on a counter along the wall, listening to the kids talk amongst each other, before throwing in his own input. "That's not for you two to feel bad about. It's water under the bridge at this point, all of it. That's something that stubborn know-it-all has to understand, and learn how to move on with."

"He told us he did want to move on," Mabel remembered.

Stan shook his head. "No, if he really wanted to do that, he could'a just left everything well good, but now he's become obsessed with 'burying his research' or whatever, wouldn't even lift a finger to help you and your pig. There's a difference between fixing your mistakes, and abandoning who you are altogether. "

Stan leaned on the counter again, Dipper and Mabel hanging onto his every word. "There was a time I did want him to abandon who he was. Now, my memory's still abit fuzzy, but I'm pretty sure that's how I lost him in the first place. The guy has it in his head that he has to throw out his whole life so we'll be better off. It's not fair for us - for you to have to bare that weight."

"I think you're being too hard on him, Grunkle Stan," Mabel suggested. "Grunkle Ford's just trying to figure out the best way to look out for us, and he's just… a little confused is all."

"Yeah, well. Poindexter's been a lone wolf for so long. He's got a lot to learn about looking out for his family."

"So did you, at first." Dipper laughed. Stan was taken aback by this, but upon reflecting on the beginning of the summer up to the present, he smiled.

"Heh… yeah, that's true."

* * *

Ford entered the doors of the vet's office. He saw a man with short, light brown hair and a scraggly goatee behind a counter, and approached him. "Hey. Did an old man, about my age… and my face, come by here, with two kids and a pig."

"You mean Stan Pines."

"Yes. Was he here?"

"He and the kids are in the back with Dani. Hey, while you wait, can I tell you about this really good book I'm reading?"

Ford looked down on the counter and saw the book titled _Joke Book vol. 2_ , "I-I'd rather not-"

"Wanna hear a joke?"

"…"

"Here goes. My ex-wife still misses me…"

* * *

Three images of Waddle's x-rays were displayed on the board, attached to the wall in front of the observation table.

"Well, I put him under the x-rays, took a blood sample, ran diagnostics… but I can't seem to find anything wrong with him."

Mabel should have been able to find comfort in this news. But for some reason, she could not. "But… there has to be something wrong with him. Waddles doesn't normally act like this."

"Can you double check?" Stan asked.

"I did. The three x-ray images, those were three different scans. I tested him again and again, but… nothing. Your friend seems perfectly healthy."

"That can't be right. Great Uncle Ford seemed so sure Waddles was sick." Dipper recalled as he examined the three images closely.

"And who would this Ford be?"

"That would be me."

Everyone in the room's eyes went to the door, where they saw Ford standing in the doorway.

"Great Uncle Ford!"

"Well look who dropped into Planet Earth, Clark Kent." Stan snarked.

"Hello kids, Stanley," Ford greeted his family before approaching the veterinarian. "You should ask the guy out front if he ever thought about working at the Mystery Shack. I think he'd fit right in." He stood before her with his hands behind his back, "You must be Dani."

"You must be Ford."

He cleared his throat, "Dr. Stanford Pines, PhD." The scientist shook hands with the veterinarian.

"Oh, You're polydactyl." She examined the six-fingered hand holding hers with fascination. "Intriguing."

Ford pulled his hand back behind him, not too quickly. "What seems to be the problem?"

"Well, the kids seem to be sure their friend here is sick, they said you were sure about it too. The x-rays don't seem to show any abnormalities."

"Did you run any infrared tests?"

"…"

"CT scans? MRI's?"

"Well, no. In this small town, we don't get the same kind of funding they do in Portland… or anywhere else really. If want more detailed diagnostics, we could refer you to an out-of-town clinic."

"That won't be necessary. Not yet, at least." Ford reached into his long coat and pulled out a rather bulky tablet.

"What's that, Grunkle Ford?" Mabel asked.

"This," the screen on the tablet came to life, "is one of my own inventions. It's an advanced x-ray of sorts. Unlike a normal x-ray, this can be used to observe not only someone's internal physical condition, but also the condition of their energy and metaphysical state. With it, I can detect the presence of any supernatural ailments."

"Great Uncle Ford, are you saying Waddles might be cursed?"

"That's one possibility, but I have my own hypothesis." Ford held the screen above Waddles and watched his skeleton appear on screen. He scanned down the length of the pig's body, watching closely for any abnormalities, before detecting a whiff of movement in the space where the heart would be. "I think I found something." He zoomed in the display and found the silhouette of something writhing in the heart chamber.

"What is it, Great Uncle Ford?"

"It looks like… it's a… no. It can't be."

Ford's rather dire tone put Mabel on edge. "What!? What do you see?"

"It's a Parawraith."

"I don't… like how that sounds." Dipper stuttered.

"English, Poindexter!"

"It's a parasitic being from beyond this world. Native to Dimension NK-1253. It gets it's name because it's a part physical, part spectral being. I'm assuming that's how it was able to hide itself from the standard x-ray."

"But how did a being from another dimension get inside of Waddles?" Mabel asked, confused and clearly distressed.

"My theory is the strand must have entered our world during Bill's invasion. This parasite is extremely deadly. In fact, it's a death sentence for anyone who doesn't know how to treat it. We're lucky we caught this in such an early stage. Any later and we may have been too late. There's just one problem."

Mabel was almost too afraid to find out what that problem was, but she managed to press on. "What is it Grunkle Ford? You can tell me."

"I learned from an expert in NK-1253 on how to treat the strand, but in practice, I haven't perfected the method. Unfortunately, I know of no one else in this dimension who has any knowledge of the procedure."

"But you can do it?"

"I can try, but the process is more effective with experienced execution. If it's not followed thoroughly and precisely enough… well, any wasted time could mean the end for your friend."

Dipper watched as Ford affectionately stroked the ailing pig with remorse in his demeanor. He remembered the words he spoke in the basement, and looked to his sister worryingly. His fears were eased when Ford turned to them and spoke again.

"So… there's a lot of work to do and we have to do it fast. Dipper, Stanley, you two take Waddles back to the basement. I'm going to need my own space to work, and I trust you two know how to reactivate the lab."

"It looks like someone caught the wind in their sail, finally." Stan noted with snark typical of himself, but it concealed how grateful he was that his brother had a change of heart.

"Mabel…" Ford approached Mabel and crouched to her level. "I need to gather some resources, but I'm going to need some help. Will you accompany me?"

"We're gonna save Waddles?"

"Of course. He's family, after all."

* * *

"What do you mean the flashlight went out?"

"I mean I think the battery died." Dipper heard Stan's voice call out in the pitch darkness. Dipper had to stop moving, rather annoyed, because Stan would be the one to go down in the basement with a flashlight that was almost dead.

"So we're stuck down here in a basement with no light and we still haven't found the power switch yet. Guess all we can do now is call Soos down to bring another flashlight-AAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Stan was suddenly flashing him a wicked, horrifying grin right in front of his face, using the flashlight he claimed to have been "dead" for dramatic lighting. Dipper fell backwards.

Stan exploded in triumphant laughter. "Oh man, the faces you make when you get scared! Ah, I'm gonna miss this when you go back home."

Dipper stood up and wiped the dust off of his clothes. "Grunkle Stan, shouldn't we be focusing on finding the power switch?"

"Don't have to find anything. I already know where the power switch is, Dipper. I've been working down here for thirty years." Stan motioned to a metal door which led to a small room that held the lab's central controls. He clicked a keyboard and the green light of a monitor came to life. "Just gotta put in the password…"

"I'm just saying we shouldn't be wasting time when Waddles' life is on the line, remember?"

"Ah, calm down Cheese Dip. I mean, it's not like we can do anything until Harvard gets back."

"…you mean Stanford."

"Umm… yeah, that guy."

Stan entered a password on the control monitor. Before long, all of the machines in the lab were coming back to life and light was returning to the basement.

"That does remind me we need to get back to working on your memory. We could do that some more while we wait. Earlier, you mentioned you couldn't remember why your brother left you behind when you were kids. Think you can remember now?"

"Umm… '" Stan scooped Waddles up in his arms, taking him to the area of the lab where Ford performed his experiments. After setting Waddles down on an operation table of some sort, Stan sat down in a chair leaned against a wall, "…no, still nothing. I can't remember much from when we were kids."

"Is there anything you can remember?"

"I think there was something about… a car? We wanted to drive around the country, or somethin'." Stan put his hand on his chin. "But I already had a car, so that can't be right. I don't know, kid."

"It's good you remember that you had one. Great Uncle Ford says remembering details is a good indicator of your progress."

"Yeah… well, that's good. I can remember some things about my childhood. Things about Ma, and your Grandpa Shermie. But things about Stanford are still hazy. All I remember is somethin' happened between us. Somethin' bad, made us go our separate ways."

For a moment Dipper could see regret, a faint sadness in Stan's eyes for being unable to remember his brother properly. Dipper knew some of the memories Stan shared with his brother were the most painful, which Ford theorized could have become repressed memories that were especially hard to recover.

"At the very least, you can only get better from point on."

"You sure about that?"

"Of course. I mean, you finally remembered your brother's name just now."

"Oh..." Stan shrugged, "I guess I did."

* * *

Ford and Mabel traversed the woods together, heading in a clear direction towards a water source. In order to expel the parasite that plagued Waddles, Ford would need the sap from a tree that fed off the rich soil near an enchanted spring. Ford, having studied anomalies and scouted for supernatural locations for decades, knew exactly where this spring was.

"So if this is an enchanted spring, are there any… enchanted animals living around it?" Mabel wondered as she walked right at her great uncle's side, clutching a bucket to her waist.

"Not that I know of. The animals that live around here appear quite normal. Thing is though, I haven't had time to actually study how the wildlife in this area benefits from living in the proximity of an enchanted spring. For all I know, every animal here's been living for thousands of years."

"So there aren't any fairies or… talking mice or anything like that here, right?"

"If you're worried we'll run into any unicorns, rest assured, they haven't tainted this part of the forest."

"Well, thank goodness." Mabel chuckled, and Ford was able to laugh with her.

"Honestly, we can't be grateful enough. I still remember the first time I ever studied a unicorn. I was so irritated by the end of the encounter, I had no desire to resume any further research on them."

"I think you would have liked to have been there when I got to punch one right in the face." Mabel laughed as she made triumphant punching motions through the air.

"I can't say I wouldn't have been throwing punches right alongside you. I will say, that unicorn's lucky they didn't have to deal with Stanley."

This summed up their journey towards the pond they sought out, Ford making small talk with his niece. His heart lifted somewhat for his ability to talk and laugh with her for a while, grateful that he could take her mind off the burden of her sick friend weighing her down and depriving her family of her usually cheerful spirit.

It wasn't too much longer until they reached the pond. Ahead of them, the exotic source of water glistened lightly beneath the foliage, the sun's rays dancing along the surface as they approached, until it was right below their feet. The pond spread out before them, pure and isolated in the forest, no river or waterfall feeding into it. Ford crouched down to examine the water closely.

"Do you see the ripples expanding out from the middle of the spring?" Ford whispered in her ear, pointing out towards the pond, "There's a mystical source that exists just below the epicenter. The properties of it's signal… it's energy… suggest that in the pond exists a tiny gateway into another dimension, where the water is much more pure than that of this world."

"Wow…" Mabel breathed, taking a moment to admire the ethereal landmark. "So, do I just take a bucketful of it?"

"Actually, it's not the water itself we need." Ford stood back up and motioned to the surrounding forest. "What we need exists inside these trees surrounding the pond. It's the tree sap. We have to extract it from the tree that sits closest to the water's edge. The closer the tree is to the pond, the more effective its tree sap will be in the treatment of your friend."

"So all we have to do is figure out which tree is the closest to the pond."

"Actually, I already have that covered." Ford began to walk along the water's edge and Mabel followed him. "I left a mark on the particular tree we need a long time ago, in case I ever needed to come back to it. It should be right over here…"

"Well that comes in handy. Is there anything you don't think of?"

"Oh…heheh, yeah…" Ford chuckled bashfully, thankful for the compliment, but the thought he allowed his mind to drift to was much darker. _If only…_

"Here it is." Ford approached a tree and pointed to three rough scratches in the bark.

Mabel gazed at the three slits questionably. "Why is the mark in the shape of a triangle?"

Ford's face became somewhat pale. "I umm… had an obsession, back then."

He reached into his long coat and obtained a tap used to extract tree sap and jammed it into the bark.

"What do you need me to do, Grunkle Ford?"

"Just hold the bucket under the tap. Only about a quarter of the bucket needs to be filled. I only need enough tree sap to cover a needle and we don't need to carry any extra weight back to the shack. Ready?"

Mabel held the bucket under the tap eagerly. "Ready."

Ford slammed his fist against the tap and twisted it into the bark. The golden-amber liquid spilled out within seconds. Mabel complied with Ford's insistence on only obtaining a quarter portion, and pulled away before long. Ford removed the tap.

"What do we have to do now?"

"Nothing really. Now we head back to the Shack."

"Then let's get going." Mabel urged as she started to run off.

"Wait, Mabel! Hold on." She halted at her uncle's call and turned back to him. "I actually brought you out here because I wanted to talk to you, alone. Listen… I want to help your friend Waddles get better, but I need you to know something."

Ford approached Mabel and knelt down to her level, clear apprehension in his posture that worried Mabel. The words he said in the basement started to come back to her, about how he didn't trust his own hands.

"I understand you kids have a lot of faith in me, but I said earlier, the method I intend to use to heal your friend is one I haven't perfected. If anything goes wrong, if I mess up the procedure in any way, Waddles… he may not…"

She heard the way her great uncles' voice began to crack. She had never heard him sound so unsure of himself before, but she knew his real struggle came from the fear of letting his niece down, and his entire family for that matter.

"You have to try, Grunkle Ford." She encouraged, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I trust you."

There was something in Mabel, whether it was in her eyes or in her voice or simply in who she was, that was just enough for him to grab onto and move past his fear of failure. He had to face the possibility that, even in a world where the shadow of Bill Cipher no longer loomed over him, there was still a chance he could let his family down. But it was Mabel's faith in him, that made it just a bit easier to face that reality.

"Okay," Ford stood up again, taller and more confident than he could bare to stand until that moment. "Let's get going, then."

* * *

"…How do you know he wasn't lying?"

"Heh, with everything we know about Portal jumping and whatnot, I can't say he was," Stan took a sip of his Pitt Cola. "Not sayin' the guy was the honest type. It takes one to know one, and I know he was more full of it than a cow farm. But the thing is, I ran into him out on the road, we stuck together for a bit and after a while, he lent me some of his diagrams about inter-dimensional transport during one of his many drunken outbursts. He was rambling about the 'stupidity of modern academia' or something, and he felt like he had somethin' to prove, even if some random hobo was the only one who'd listen. Turns out, it came in pretty handy when I was trying to get that portal to work, but as luck would have it, the guy wasn't even sober enough to give me all the diagrams. That son of a… something, could'a saved me a lot of time."

Dipper, still waiting for Mabel and Ford to return, sat in the dimly lit lab as Stan continued to recount his still recovering memories, simply listening and soaking in his words. "I'm surprised you can remember all of this."

"Honestly, kid, I am too."

"Anything else you can remember about… what did you say his name was?"

"See, that's the one thing I still can't remember. And to be honest, there isn't much else I can tell you when it comes to that guy. Not until you're older."

That's when Mabel and Ford entered the lab, Mabel clutching a bucket and Soos and Wendy following behind them.

"Ain't you two supposed to be working the gift shop?"

Soos scratched his head nervously. "Ah, I'm sorry Mr. Pines. It's hard to focus on work when I'm so worried about the little guy. It's just like if any of you dudes got sick."

"Aww, Soos, that's so sweet." Mabel cooed.

"Being worried doesn't pay your salary," Stan shot back.

"Stan, there hasn't been a single customer in the last two hours. No one wants to run into a gift shop to by cheap crap when there's a town to fix." Wendy scoffed. "We can't just sit at the register all day while everyone else is down here helping Waddles."

Ford cleared his throat. "I'd like to remind everyone that our friend's life is on the line. Everyone needs to remain focused and we can't waste any time."

He approached the operation table where Waddles lied and reached for the overhead lamp hanging above, pulling the switch and shining light on the half-conscious pig. Mabel looked over her flailing friend under the light. Every inch of him, even his fur, seemed weighed down with heavy illness. She couldn't keep her stomach from turning.

"I need several things to get started. Stanley, I have a small tome sitting in the top drawer to the left of my desk labeled 'old world alchemy'. Bring me that, a can of ink, and a brush to go with it."

"Sure thing." Stan responded with about as much urgency as an employee at a DMV.

"Dipper, go into the supply closet and get me a pack of needles for acupuncture."

"You got it Great Uncle Ford." Dipper saluted before running off to his duty.

"Soos, Wendy, in the medical room, there are cabinets sitting on both sides of the room. Wendy, on the right side, there's a cupboard sitting over the left end of the counter. There should be a needle still in its box, and a vial of sedative. There's a label on it. Grab those and bring them here."

"A needle and a vial of sedative… got it!" Wendy assured.

"Soos, grab the box of gloves sitting in the drawer second from the right underneath the cabinet on the left side of the room-"

"Wait a minute dude, can you start all that over?"

"…Grab the box of gloves…"

"Box of gloves" Soos repeated.

"…sitting in the drawer…"

"In the drawer, okay."

"…second from the right…"

"Second from the right, yeah."

"…underneath the cabinet…"

"Underneath the cabinet."

"…on the left side of the room."

"Left side. Alright, I got this."

"Make sure it's the custom made six-fingered ones." Ford added.

"You got it dude!"

"What do I do, Grunkle Ford?" Mabel asked, practically glowing with eagerness to help Waddles.

Ford spoke softly, giving her a smile for her generosity. "Set the bucket on the table. I want you to help me keep your friend calm until I get him sedated."

"Alright." Mabel walked around the table until she was standing where Waddles could see her and set down the bucket she was still holding. She placed her hand on him and gently stroked his forehead. "It's gonna be okay, Waddles. Grunkle Ford's gonna make you all better."

Ford pulled the x-ray he used to identify Waddles' ailment from his long coat. "Watch this, Mabel," Ford urged as he pointed to a projector near the wall opposite to him. Pointing the tablet at Waddles, he worked the controls until a light projection of Waddles' x-ray, and the parasite that still crawled around inside of him, appeared on the wall. He put the tablet to his side and placed it on its stand at the end of the table, and the image in the projector adjusted accordingly as he kept it focused on the pig. Having done that, he grabbed the bucket off the table and took it to the sink to clean it off. He scrubbed his own hands in the process before drying the bucket and setting it back on the table.

Wendy came back from the medical area. "I got the needle and vial."

"Give it here."

Ford took the container and inspected the label, reading the word 'sedative' on the tag. "This is the one."

Soos followed not too far behind with the box of latex gloves. Ford wasted no time taking the box and strapping them on. "Thank you, Soos."

"No problem, Dr. Pines," Soos accepted the gesture, the nervous sweat on his forehead beginning to dry. "Nailed it."

Dipper ran back into the room soon after that.

"Found the needles for acupuncture." Dipper announced excitedly. Any opportunity he had to help out his great uncle was cause for celebration for the boy.

Then there was Stan.

"Remind me later that Poindexter's the next one who needs a checkup." Stan snickered as he returned to the operation room, flipping through the alchemy book for whatever reason. "You've got to be livin' in crazy town to get what any of this is sayin'.

"Thank you… for that, Stanley." Ford said flatly as he snatched the book, can of ink, and brush from his brother.

"Anything else you need, Great Uncle Ford?"

"I've got almost everything. Now I'll just need a chainsaw, a blowtorch, and an enema and I'll be good to go."

"What?!" Everyone exclaimed in sync.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I've got everything I need. Mabel, keep your friend calm. Everyone else stand back."

Ford unboxed the needle and put the pieces together. He opened the vial and inserted a sample of the fluid into the tube, then held the needle at the ready.

Mabel stared at the sharp point apprehensively, then back at her pig, and her heart sank. It was possible she might never see Waddles awake again. She immediately shook her head, denying that thought. No, Ford was going to make sure Waddles got better. She trusted him. Ford was smart and he was good and he was family. He wouldn't let her down. He couldn't for Waddles' sake.

She whispered soft encouragements to her pig, continuing to stroke his head gently as Ford's needle sank into his skin. Waddles gave a frail squeak as he was hit with sharp pain. "Sorry, buddy," Ford whispered. He pulled the needle away, but kept the palm of his free hand on Waddles' fur and watched as his eyelids fluttered and slowly concealed his eyes.

Mabel somewhat feared what Ford could have planned for her friend. "Grunkle Ford, are you going to have do surgery on Waddles?"

"Not at all, actually." Ford answered, finding relief in being able to give his niece that comfort, but worrying that she wouldn't like what he was actually planning on doing.

Ford resumed his process silently. His hand reached for the tome laid to his right upon the table. He flipped through the pages to find a diagram of an alchemy circle. "What's written here is a section on anatomical alchemy. Since we're dealing with a ghost of sorts, healing your friend won't require surgery, but rather an exorcism."

He kept the page open at his side as he reached for the ink. He opened the can of black liquid and grabbed the brush, soaking it in ink, and holding it over the Waddles' fur.

The others in the room anticipated him starting the process, but he didn't. He was suddenly frozen, his body locked up as the brush lingered over his patient, drops of ink dripping one after another and marking his pink fur. Their eyes gazed upon his face, to see a cold sweat beginning to cover his brow.

"Great Uncle Ford? What's wrong?"

Stan snapped his fingers in front of him. "Hey, Sixer! Earth to Sixer!"

"I'm gonna mess up."

His voice came out low and quiet. No one was quite sure they heard it, but regardless, the silence in the room was instantly more tense.

"What? Hey, Poindexter! Snap out of it!" Stan grabbed his brother's shoulder.

"Something's gonna go wrong. I just know." Ford threw the brush back on the table in frustration and leaned over it. "I can't do this."

"Hey, man," Wendy grabbed his other shoulder, "pull it together."

"No, I can't… every time I think I can do something, it goes wrong. I thought I could do this, but…" Ford turned away from the table, biting his lip angrily, fingers trembling, "…it's like he's still whispering in my head… mocking me, laughing at me. I can't concentrate."

"You're really gonna back out now?" Stan growled, belligerently annoyed by Ford's self pity. He jumped in front of him and held him by the shoulders and jerked him about. "Now you listen to me. You're gonna do this. You're gonna help your niece's pig get better. You're the doctor, Poindexter. Whatever's going on up there, put it out of your mind, shut it out. When the pig gets better, then you can start moping, or whatever it is you do. But right now, we need you."

Mabel watched the way Ford crossed his arms over his chest, how he seemed to collapse into himself. Stan's words were not getting to Ford, and Mabel noticed. She'd approach him, and gently placed her hand on his arm. "Grunkle Ford. You have to at least try."

"Mabel… I can't." He sighed, heavy and full of grief. "There's too high a chance I'll fail."

"It's okay if you fail."

Just like that all of the voices in his head vanished. He froze, his mind turning over as he tried to grasp onto any reason behind those words. "He'll die if that happens."

"If that happens, it won't be your fault. You said that Waddles is family. The least we can do to is try to help our family."

He watched her gaze up at him as she held his arm. Where her eyes were lost and afraid for her friend only hours earlier, they were now filled with confidence and hope. He gave her that hope. It would be cruel to take that away from her now. He knew she was right. Waddles would surely die if he did nothing, but that couldn't quell his fear of failure, of not being good enough… never being good enough. But here was this girl, his niece, his family, telling him it was okay if he failed. It was enough if he simply tried.

"I don't know how you can have so much faith in me, Mabel. I'm sorry about this, I'm sorry there isn't someone better who can do this."

For a moment, it seemed as if even Mabel's words were not enough. She started to despair again, thinking there was no hope left for Waddles.

"But you're right. I knew this wasn't going to be easy from the start, but if we do nothing, you're friend will surely die no matter what. Mabel, you're too kind to forgive me if I can't save Waddles, but it's strange. Knowing that you will makes it easier for me… somehow."

He still held doubt in his mind, but he came to accept that any chance he had to save Mabel's friend should be used, no matter how slim. He nodded hesitantly, before approaching the table and grabbing the brush. He let the ink soak its broad tip, then held it over the landscape of the pig's pink fur. Though his grip trembled, it didn't stop moving this time. Finally the brush came down on the pig's fur, and he started with one long, slow brush stroke. It was a simple line, ragged and somewhat sloppy. Ford paused for the briefest moment, attempting to compose himself before forming another line, connected to the first, running across his back. This brushstroke was quicker and more poised, making less room for error. The result was a line of much straighter form than the first. He continued these strokes, in intense silence. The room was so quiet, every stroke across the landscape of Waddles' fur could almost be heard.

This continued until Ford had created a concrete picture on the pig's back. It was a rough replication of the alchemy circle displayed in the tome. In the circle, a series of lines extended from the edges, converging at a point in the center. He put down the brush and gave a calm exhale, before extending his hand to the box of acupuncture needles. He pulled out only one and dipped the tip in the bucket, submerging it in the tree sap. He held the needle over the circle, his grip starting to tremble again. He calmly took in another breath. He pinned his eyes down on the point in the circle's center, focusing with excruciating effort. The needle inched closer. He could never actually position himself for a precise penetration. It was all about timing. He needed calm, stable hands for this.

He took in another breath, then took his shot. The needle successfully landed on the point of convergence.

Dipper broke the heavy silence. "Did you get it?"

"We're about to see."

As if on cue, the black lines of the alchemy circle, as if by magic, started to glow in sapphire blue light.

"Yes, it's working!" A wave of excitement washed over Ford, but he just as quickly composed himself. His hand reached for the tome and he pulled it closer, and began to rad the elusive spell.

 _"Aen aenye me tuathe col aen bloed…"_

The others watched as he recited the foreign manuscript. Auras of light, much the same sapphire blue color as the luminescent circle, engulfed his hands. He lightly placed his hands on both sides of the pig's body, and the aura began to fade, as if burrowing itself beneath Waddles' skin.

"What did you do?" Mabel asked.

Ford pulled his hands down to his side. "Essentially… I've placed Waddles under a spell. This is the most important aspect of the process, and it needs twelves hours to run its course. I just have to make sure our friend doesn't slip away until then." As if he could feel the chill running down Mabel's spine, he instinctively put a hand on her back. "You guys should turn in for the night. I won't be leaving this basement until morning." As he said this, he gave her a smile as if to say to her 'I've got this.'

"You're saying you have to stand here the whole night? You're not even gonna sleep?" Dipper questioned.

Ford chuckled. "My boy, you'll be surprised to learn that ancient alchemy is an excruciating practice. It requires focus and time - a lot of time - especially for an amateur like me."

"But what if you…" Dipper was cut off when Stan started to nudging him towards the door.

"Alright, alright, if the man says he needs to focus, then that's what he needs to do. You too Mabel. Soos, Wendy, you got your break, now get back to work."

Mabel was surprisingly compliant with Stan, finding it easy to leave her friend with Ford. Her faith in him seemed to restore some of his confidence. She decided the best way to show her trust was to fully leave Waddles in his care.

Stan urged everyone out of the room, but he hesitated to remove himself. Every inch of him wanted to chew Ford's ear off for even thinking of leaving his niece's cherished pig for dead. But he knew Ford required his solitude at the moment, so he refrained.

…besides, doing so would make him a hypocrite, if memory served him correctly.

* * *

"Grunkle Ford."

"…"

"Psst… Grunkle Ford, wake up. You're falling asleep."

A voiced whispered to him through a darkness he didn't realize had overtaken him. He slowly opened his eyes, seeing he was still standing over the sleeping pig, before turning to where the voice emerged and saw his niece standing there.

Ford, groggy and disoriented and desperately tired, glanced around the room, seeing that she was alone. "Mabel… why are you down here? It's past midnight."

She was aware enough to show visible signs of shame in her demeanor. "I can't sleep," she whispered honestly.

"You're worried about your friend." His eyes sadly returned to the pig, sleeping under his spell. "It's alright. I understand."

He gently laid his hands on the sides of the pig again. He watched the x-ray projection. The alchemy circle appeared in the image, a blurry light in his somewhat bleary vision, as did the parasite flailing about.

"Waddles isn't the only one I'm worried about."

He didn't respond. He continued staring at the x-ray, waiting for her to say more. "Grunkle Ford, are you going to stop being a scientist if Waddles dies?"

He noticed the quietness in her voice, and wasn't sure if that was because it was late or she was nervous to speak to him… or fearful to breach this subject.

"I don't know."

Three words that almost seemed foreign to his tongue. It was no secret that Ford considered himself of elevated intelligence. There was a time he believed that his own word, and his own wisdom, was more reliable than anyone else's. It was something he was convinced of since before he was even an adult. Now, it was much harder to believe that. He'd seen the consequences his "wisdom" had wrought, in nearly enabling Bill Cipher to destroy their world and almost tearing his family apart.

"Is Stanley's memory still recovering well?" He asked, not sure how his mind came to that question.

"Yeah… I think. Dipper says he's been doing well remembering names and smaller memories here and there, but he's still having a hard time remembering his childhood."

Ford was positive what the word "childhood" entailed. The bulk of Stan's memories of his youth tended to include Ford in the picture.

"He doesn't remember what happened, about why we separated?"

"No." She answered, shaking her head. "He doesn't remember much about you."

Ford nodded his head. "I told Dipper there were certain memories Stan might have suppressed before the amnesia. These will be especially difficult for him to recover. No surprise the memories in question would be those pertaining to me."

"Grunkle Ford-"

"It's the things I've done to him that make him want to forget. I just have a knack for letting my aspiration tear my family apart. Why would anyone want to remember me?"

Ford wasn't sure he understood why being so honest with Mabel came so natural. He couldn't begin to understand how his words caused her pain.

"I hate hearing you say things like that Grunkle Ford."

He fell silent.

"You're so much like me, in so many ways. You care so much about your family and your dreams. You don't deserve this. Whatever punishment you think you deserve, you don't." She nestled up against Ford's thigh, and hugged him. "You deserve to be remembered and loved. I don't want you to give up who you are because of me and Waddles… or is it Waddles and me?"

He laughed softly, the forced motion letting him feel the tears he didn't realize were falling.

"That's not what I want, that's not what Dipper wants, and that's not what Grunkle Stan wants either. We just want you to be here for your family. Even if you don't know the answers, even if you don't know how to help, it's enough to just be here for us. Things won't always turn out well, and all of us are going to make mistakes, but we have to stick with each other. Don't turn your mistakes into a burden. Don't drive yourself away from us anymore."

As he trembled in her embrace, she held him tighter.

"Don't leave us. Please don't leave your family, Grunkle Ford."

He collapsed to his knees. With the last of his wavering strength, he grabbed her in his arms and held her tight, resting his head on her shoulder. It was all he could do to keep from falling to pieces completely.

He didn't speak. He didn't know what to say. He couldn't fathom how Mabel could forgive him for the death he almost wrought upon her family. It amazed him how she could be so innocent and loving, and it saddened him that he didn't deserve any of it. He wished he could tell her everything would turn out okay for her friend, but truthfully he had no way of knowing.

He hoped his tears were enough to convey that despite everything, her forgiveness had lifted a great weight off his shoulders.

* * *

Dipper woke up that morning to notice Mabel had vacated the attic. It didn't take long to deduced that she's headed down to the basement, so that's where he went.

When he came to the basement, Ford was still standing over Waddles. Mabel was seated off in a chair to the side, still asleep.

Ford must have heard him enter. "Your sister slept here overnight. We both needed the comfort."

Dipper smiled. He noticed the subtle ways Ford had been bonding with Mabel. Since Weirdmageddon ended, he had time to ponder whether his uncle really did favor him over his sister, and how that might effect her in the future. He was grateful to see those fears being put to rest.

Despite the early hour, the others started to file in soon afterwards. They were all awake and gathered in the same place as the evening prior. Soos and Wendy were willing to make it into the shack even before their shift began, to see if Waddles could be restored back to health. Ford didn't request anyone's presence. Everyone just seemed to show up.

Once the last of the twelve hours came and went, Ford started by removing the needle from the pig's back, before placing his hands on each side of Waddles again. The aura that sank into his fur before reappeared on his hands. The other five stood around him closely, standing on edge.

"So what's supposed to happen now?" Wendy spoke first.

"Is the little guy gonna make it?" Soos asked, standing nervously with his fingers near his lips.

Ford watched the microscopic specter in the x-ray, and finally gave the answer that everyone had been waiting to hear. "Yes, now that he's made it through the night. Once I've executed the extraction spell, he'll be out of the woods."

The others began to celebrate this news. Dipper and Mabel hugged each other, Soos and Wendy high fived, and Stan simply chuckled and crossed his arms, but smiled in relief nonetheless.

"But I have to warn everybody, once I've gotten the specter out, if it doesn't perish immediately, it will react aggressively as it fights for its life. Things could get a little messy, so when I say the word, everyone needs to leave the room."

"How will you deal with it if that happens?" Dipper asked as everyone took a step back.

"A sudden wind draft will spread throughout the room when that happens. That will be my queue to pounce."

A pair of shock gloves were positioned on the table. Ford grabbed them and slid them on, preparing to stand his ground against the ghost should he need to. He lifted his hands and held them above Waddles as he entered the last step of the ritual, ghostly sapphire shining and illuminating the walls. He glanced at the diagram in the tome, still open to his side, and recited its last words.

" _…gan aenyell'hael, esseath daflu vort beann'shie. Va faill!_ "

Silence engulfed them again, everyone waiting in tense, breathless anticipation. They watched the x-ray, the parasite suddenly thrashing about. Then, like magic, it disappeared.

A chill burrowed into his skin. He felt the ghostly presence enter the air, a tense, haunting feeling all too familiar to him. His eyes stayed firmly on the still slumbering pig, and he waited with baited breath. "Everyone should leave the room. Now."

He heard someone grunting.

It came from behind him. He recognized the voice. Then he heard it again, this time louder.

"Stanley…?"

Stan's eyes and teeth were clenched tightly as if he were in pain. In his head, a piercing ringing, almost like a screech, ravaged his ears. It grew in intensity, causing him greater pain and forcing him to slam his hands against his ears… until the ringing finally peaked and faded. He opened his eyes… only to find himself in an unknown place, surrounded by people he did not recognize.

"Where am I?"

"What!?" Ford had to say, hoping and praying to whatever would listen that he hadn't heard his brother correctly.

Stan looked around the room, zipping from face to face frantically. "Who are all of you?"

"Grunkle Stan!?" Mabel's face was stricken in pure horror and fear.

Dipper quickly caught on to Stan's predicament. "Grunkle Stan! Your memory!"

Ford tried to remain calm, but even he was finding that extremely difficult. "Stanley, you're in the basement, under the Mystery Shack, with your family."

"Who's Stanley?" The amnesiac became increasingly confused and apprehensive of the people surrounding him.

"Oh no… no, no, no, no, come on." Ford stepped in front of his brother and held his face in his hands. "Stanley you have to remember. Come on, you have to remember."

"Mr. Pines! It's me, Soos! I've worked at the Shack for ten years! You have to remember who I am!" Soos was on the verge of tears. He was reliving those dreadful moments after Weirdmageddon again, when he thought the closest thing he had to a father had been lost forever.

"Stan, I swear if you don't remember who you are, I'll keep punching you in your old man face until you remember!" Wendy threatened angrily.

"What are you all doing? Get away from me!" Stan flinched away from everyone, and retreated into himself.

As all of their attention was focused on Stan, a sudden wind gust blasted through the room, strong enough to nearly knock everyone off their feet. This was followed by a piercing, monstrous shriek.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?" Stan screamed.

They all turned to see the source of the ominous wind. Above the sleeping pig, engulfed in ghostly, ethereal blue light, was the fully grown Parawraith. It was a horrendous construction of a mutated exoskeleton covering mutilated flesh, with shining white eyes that could ravage one's very soul.

"Shoot! Everyone, head for the door! Quickly!" Ford shouted as he leaped at the creature prepared to fight it, but the wraith flew into him, grabbing him and hurling him into the wall.

"Grunkle Ford!" Mabel was almost out of the room when she ran back to help Ford, but the ghost emerged in front of her. She tried to get around it, but the wraith jumped at her and clutched her leg.

"No, Mabel!" Dipper screamed for his sister and ran back for her.

She slipped out of it's grasp, but it left a nasty cut, causing her shooting, hot pain in her leg. Unable to run away, she turned over and saw the wraith falling towards her, but Ford charged into it and slammed it into a wall. He held it there, choking it as it thrashed in his arms, and activated the shock gloves. It thrashed and writhed about wildly, screaming with the intensity of hellfire, as it was electrocuted. Ford clenched down on its neck, showing no mercy, only determined to protect his family. His voice roared through his throat with the words that would eradicate the ghost.

" _Vade… spiritus… obtestatus!_ "

A bright flash engulfed the specter. Blinding light shined throughout the room. A sudden, concussive blast eradicated the ghost, knocking Ford onto his back.

Dipper reached his sister and fell beside her. "Mabel! Oh my god… Mabel, are you okay!"

Hearing Dipper tending to his wounded sister prompted Ford back to his feet. He rushed to her side in mere seconds, grabbing a rag, a bottle of alcohol and bandage wraps along the way. He pushed Dipper to the side a little too forcefully. "Stay right here and keep her comfort." He demanded. He poured the alcohol on the rag before wiping over the nasty scar. The poor girl whined, almost screaming, as it burned her skin, but Dipper was there to give her his hand, and let her hold him as tightly as she needed. Ford didn't waste any time grabbing the bandages once the wound was clear enough. He lifted her leg and soon had a hefty length of bandages wrapped around it, a red stain appearing where the wound was buried under it.

He continued to inspect the limb, putting his hand over it to test any lingering pain. "You think you can walk?"

"I don't know… it hurts a lot."

"Give it a moment, you'll be alright. Dipper, go help Stanley."

"Okay" he saw Stan emerge back in the room and Dipper approached him. "Grunkle Stan, do you remember anything?"

He still looked as clueless and confused as before, but now he was also shaking with fear. "Kid, I don't… I don't know. I have no idea what's goin' on."

"Grunkle Stan, look at me. Look at me and try to remember. My name is Dipper Pines, and I'm your great nephew. You're in the lab you spent thirty years working in trying to get your brother from the other side of a portal. Just calm down, clear your head, and focus on remembering."

He seemed to understand Dipper's instructions, as he made an effort to slow his breath. He tried to clear his thoughts and focus on taking in his surroundings, but the only thing that came back to him was that blasted ringing.

Stan was clenching his eyes closed and grunting in pain again, but quicker than it happened before, the nerves in his face relaxed. He opened his eyes again, knowledge and awareness shining in them once more.

"Dipper." He said, quietly, but with a finesse that showed the name was deeply familiar to him.

Dipper let go of the breath he didn't realize he had been holding, relieved as were the others around him. "Can you remember now?"

"I-I think so… Soos, Wendy… Stanford, Mabe- Sweet Moses! Mabel!" He recognized the girl on the floor, clutching her wounded leg, and he ran to her. "Sweetheart, what happened!?"

"I'm okay, Grunkle Stan." She rolled over slightly to face him. "What about you? Is your memory okay."

"Aww, your old man's alright. I just got a little confused. I'm sorry for scarin' you."

They fell silent when they heard another jarring sound. It was an energetic squeal that sounded very familiar. Were it not for her injured leg, Mabel would have sprung to her feet in excitement. "Waddles!"

The pig sat up, still on the table, and looked around. As soon as he saw her, he jumped off the table and eagerly dashed into her arms.

"Oh Waddles, you're okay! You're back to normal!" She happily rubbed her face in his fur and laughed at the happy sensation. Stan smiled for her niece's happiness, but predictably backed away from the pig. Waddles wasn't having any of it, as he jumped out of Mabel's arms and started licking him in the face.

"Ah, ai, alright Waddles, okay! Yeah, I'm happy to see you too, you little mutt. Now get off me."

The pig jumped back into Mabel's arms, giving her another chance to shower him with hugs and warmth. "Oh Waddles, I love you and I'm so happy you're back to normal. I knew Grunkle Ford could fix you. Thank you so much, Grunkle Ford!"

Mabel didn't get a response for her gratitude, as Ford was no longer in the room.

"Grunkle Ford?"

"Great Uncle Ford went back upstairs."

They turned to the door to see Dipper standing there. Soos and Wendy were beside him. They all had expressions of worry.

"He looked kinda upset for some reason. Someone better go after him." Wendy suggested. Stan got to his feet.

"I'll go talk to him. The rest of you, help Mabel get back upstairs." Stan told them before running to the elevator.

* * *

Ford stood on the porch of the Shack, under the mist of the late summer morning. The sun was only beginning to pierce through the fog and graze through the pine canopy.

Stan came out of the shack and found his brother standing alone, his hand buried in his face.

"What the hell was that in there? You saved her stupid pig, and you weren't even around to let her thank you. What kind of-"

"She was this close…"

Stan's words were caught in his throat, as he heard Ford whispering in a pained growl. "What are you…?"

Ford uncovered his face and turned to him, eyes bloodshot and burning with tears.

"One more second… that's all the ghost needed… before it slaughtered her… one more and she would have been dead… and it would have been MY fault."

If Stan could have pulled his head back any further, he would have snapped his own neck. He groaned, loud and exaggerated before walking over to the chair and collapsing into it. He allowed Ford's words to hang in the air before responding. "But it didn't. It would've, had you not saved her."

"No, you don't understand. Don't you try to sugarcoat this, Stanley. I can't keep doing this. The journals, Weirdmageddon, the Parawraith. How many times do I have to keep putting everyone in danger before something terrible happens?"

"Stanford. Nothing. Happened." Stan asserted, stressing every word. Ford threw his hands in the air.

"Think about this Stanley. I mean - really- think about this. Picture it. It's three days after the kids' birthday, and they're supposed to be home in Piedmont, but Dipper's still here in Gravity Falls because he can't leave his sister who's in the hospital! Then their parents call us screaming about why their kids are not home yet, and we have jack shit to tell them other than that their daughter is sleeping in the hospital in critical condition on our watch! And why? Because I was trying to perform an exorcism on a pig!?"

"Then what's next! Their parent's would have to take their daughter home in a casket, and Dipper would be going to his own sister's funeral, trying to figure out if he can even go on living without the one person who was supposed stick with him their whole lives. Meanwhile, we're getting convicted of murdering a child, sitting in a jail cell looking like a couple of psycho Dr. Frankensteins. Who the hell would even believe what we've been through, Stanley!? Our lives would be over, Dipper's childhood would be destroyed and god knows what else!"

"That's not even considering all the hell we went through just a few days ago. All of this is on me, Stanley! I dragged us out here to Gravity Falls, practically fucking no man's land, believing I was chasing some grand mystery that was gonna change the world. Oh I solved the mystery, Stanley! All the answers came blasting out of the sky in a reign of demonic shitfuckery, our entire universe on the brink, lined up on death row for Cipher's grand execution. All of this started, Stanley, when I-"

"When I destroyed your project in high school," Stan finished. Every hot breath exploding in Ford's lungs evaporated in an instant, draining every shade of red from his face. All of the hot anger was swept away and he was suddenly very cold. He allowed his lips to part, allowing one last icy breath to escape him, before breathing again, slower and colder… slower and colder…

"I thought you didn't remember that." Ford muttered, almost without being heard.

"Yeah well… I didn't either." Stan shrugged. Ford, drained of all his grief and frustration, leaned against the wall and slid down the wooden surface to sit next to Stan. "Look, Sixer. I get it. Life is dangerous, or whatever. It's scary to think of what could happen to the kids in the future. Well, welcome to my world. I live in constant terror over them, especially living in this circus. But, shit Sixer, you always make everything revolve around you, and everything is your burden, even things you can't control. Things that never even happened.

Stan always kept a cooler by the chair on his porch. He opened it and reached into it. He'd refilled it the previous day, so all of the ice had melted overnight, but the drinks were still fairly cold. He offered one to Ford, who quietly accepted it, before grabbing a beer for himself and taking a sip.

"Mabel never told you about how Jim Snyder got the rift."

"Bill Cipher," Ford corrected, "and no, she didn't."

"She was so upset when she heard Dipper was taking your apprenticeship or whatever, she grabbed her bag and ran out of the Shack, but she didn't realize she actually grabbed Dipper's bag. That slimy dorito came to her in the woods, disguised as this… time traveler - long story. He told her he could make summer last longer, so she wouldn't have to go home and leave Dipper behind, if he gave her the rift, which was in the bag and she agreed. You know the rest."

Ford started thinking. It immediately made a lot of sense why Mabel was so willing to forgive him for… everything. She blamed herself for bringing about the near-apocalypse. She had to live knowing all of her friends and family could have died because of her. She knew what it felt like to bare that weight, and her forgiveness was her way of showing sympathy.

"When Dipper heard about all this, he forgave her, just like that," Stan continued. "Didn't give it a second thought. In his mind, he was the one who made her upset in the first place, so he was partially to blame."

"Because he accepted the apprenticeship. That was my fault too, Stanley."

"Dipper didn't have to accept it, though. He made a bad call. We all have at some point. But those two are troopers you know. They pulled together and fixed the mess they helped to make, and it helped us fix our mess."

Stan took another sip, and let the cold beverage trickle down his throat. Most of the morning fog tangled in the canopy had dissipated.

"The point I'm trying to make is mistakes are not burdens, they're learning experiences. Dipper and Mabel… they just learned how to work through their mistakes, and focus on what matters… sticking together, helping each other." Stan took in a breath of remorse. "We never learned how to do that, Stanford. We've been screwing up since we first became adults. We never even talked through our problems, just cast each other aside. Hell, this is like the longest conversation I've had with you since we were kids."

Ford, still holding the drink Stan gave him, twisted it in his hand.

"Look, Stanford, I know where you're coming from. You've been a lone wolf for most of your life, and you take everything in stride. I get it. I've been alone most of my life too. But for Moses' sake, you have to stop turning everything into a burden. All that does is weigh down on those who want to help you, if you're sulkin' around, and carrying a chip on your shoulder. Being a part of a family isn't just about helping those you care about. It's about letting them be there for you also, even when you don't think you need any help."

The expression Stan wore as he stared out into the woods became a wistful smile. "At first, I dreaded the idea of having these kids over for the summer, but I never would'a got you outta that portal if it weren't for them. Now I can't even imagine my life without 'em.

"Grunkle Ford!"

They heard their niece calling him from inside, and they turned to the door.

"Who wants to get licked in the face?" They heard Dipper say before he opened the door. "Great Uncle Ford, I think there's someone in here who wants to thank you." Seconds later, Waddles ran out of the door and jumped into Ford's lap, licking his face soaked and squealing with enthusiasm.

"Ah, heh, hey there little guy!" Ford laughed as he gently pushed the overly gracious pig from his face, and held him in his lap. "I'm glad to see you running around again. You're very welcome."

Mabel was the next thing to burst out of the door full of excitement. "Grunkle Ford, look! Waddles is back to his old self!"

"I see that sweetheart, and I see you're up walking as well."

"I barely feel a thing anymore," With that she couldn't hold back her joy any longer. She charged at him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Thank you for saving him, Grunkle Ford."

"I should be thanking you." Ford gladly returned the embrace. "You convinced me to do it."

As they shared the warm moment, Waddles dashed off into the yard. Mabel took her arms away "It looks like Waddles has been wanting to play for a while."

"Go get him," Ford cheered before Mabel chased the pig out to the yard. Dipper followed behind her.

"Hey, be careful sweetheart. Don't want your pig to be taken by another dinosaur." Stan laughed.

Ford watched his niece and nephew as they played with their friend, silently rejoicing that he, a jaded, worn-down old scientist, could witness something so pure and innocent. Stan watched his brother, aware of and having experienced the joy he was feeling.

"How ya holdin' up, Sixer?"

Ford sat up, feeling new life flowing through him, before he answered. "I'm feeling pretty happy."

"Yeah," Stan took another sip of his drink, "that's how it's supposed to feel.

Stan's gaze returned to the kids as they played and chased each other, grateful that he could finally relish in this sight with the brother he missed for so long.

"Those kids… they're a miracle, aren't they?" Stan reflected, every good emotion he held for his family flowing within his voice.

Ford finally opened his drink, and took his own sip in celebration of this new sense of unity.

"I couldn't agree more, Stanley."


End file.
